23 Aug '11 13:52>
Yes, another anniversary...
Today is the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that all but ensured that WWII would start. Without a guarantee that the Soviets would stay out of it, Hitler would have been less likely to move on Poland and risk opening up an immediate major 2 front war.
Now, we all know that Stalin was in it for Stalin and the USSR and not for the greater good, so a question about whether the pact was "perfidious" or back stabbing to the west is silly. The British botched their chance to strike a deal with the Soviets with silly foot dragging and so can hardly have been morally outraged when Hitler struck the deal with Stalin.
The question I have is: Was it, in the end, a good deal for Stalin himself? Without the deal, maybe Hitler never marches on Poland and maybe there's no war at all. Certainly, that would have been the optimal result. On the other hand, by striking the deal, the German-Soviet border moved 200 KM farther from Moscow than if Germany had swallowed the whole Poland. Maybe if that happens, the march of Bock and Guderian and Army Group Center in 1941 swallows Moscow before the first snowflake falls on the Smolesk road.
What say you?
Today is the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that all but ensured that WWII would start. Without a guarantee that the Soviets would stay out of it, Hitler would have been less likely to move on Poland and risk opening up an immediate major 2 front war.
Now, we all know that Stalin was in it for Stalin and the USSR and not for the greater good, so a question about whether the pact was "perfidious" or back stabbing to the west is silly. The British botched their chance to strike a deal with the Soviets with silly foot dragging and so can hardly have been morally outraged when Hitler struck the deal with Stalin.
The question I have is: Was it, in the end, a good deal for Stalin himself? Without the deal, maybe Hitler never marches on Poland and maybe there's no war at all. Certainly, that would have been the optimal result. On the other hand, by striking the deal, the German-Soviet border moved 200 KM farther from Moscow than if Germany had swallowed the whole Poland. Maybe if that happens, the march of Bock and Guderian and Army Group Center in 1941 swallows Moscow before the first snowflake falls on the Smolesk road.
What say you?